Yet more complaints of poor service delivery meted out to residents of Ward 61 have been received.
This, despite attempts by Cllr Patel to seemingly hoodwink residents that the ANC led Tshwane Council is ‘on top form’ concerning service delivery in the area. In one of the latest of the many complaints received by the Laudium Sun, against the Tshwane Council and Cllr Patel, residents of Bengal Street say that they are tired of complaining of a water pipe leakage, which has been continuously leaking for almost two weeks now. This, despite Patel posting on social media that the Tshwane Council would give urgent attention to complaints of water leaks, due to water shortages. The residents say that despite their complaints to both the Council and the office of Cllr Patel, neither the Council nor the Councillor have responded and the wastage of clean water continues on Bengal Street, due to the leak. The leak has also caused pedestrians to take a long detour in order to avoid walking into the flow of water at the risk of slipping and injuring themselves. However, concerns have been raised for the safety of children seen playing in the pools of water caused by the leak, especially during this school holiday period.
Billy Thumbran, a concerned resident of Bengal Street in Laudium, told the Laudium Sun, “The water pipe burst more than a week ago, but no one from the Council has come to fix it. A lot of clean water is being wasted and it’s still flowing. This is a total waste of water due to the Council’s negligence. We can’t even go for our normal walk, because there is water everywhere. This leakage must be fixed as soon as possible. It can’t go on like this.”
Billy added, “The leak was reported to the Council immediately – which is more than a week ago, but we are still waiting for it to be repaired. Why is it taking so long? Now I heard that the water supply may be cut off due to water maintenance, but in the meantime, the Council is already wasting so much of water. There is so much clean water that they could have saved, but no, the Council is just wasting it. We, the ordinary citizens, pay our rates, taxes, and water bills, and it is the Council that is causing all this waste. So, at the end, we will be charged for this water by the Council sending us high water bills. It is completely wrong. The Council and our Councillor need to do the right thing and attend to our complaints immediately. We are sick and tired of this poor service delivery.”
Yonus Budhoo of Bengal Street, told the Laudium Sun, “This is completely insane. The Council is treating us terribly, especially the residents of Bengal Street. We’re dealing with so many poor service delivery issues and honestly, most of us don’t even want to speak up anymore, because in the end, nothing ever gets done. There are water leaks, broken streetlights and a high crime rate in the area. Everything feels broken in our community. To fix it, we really need strong, honest leaders who can rebuild everything from the ground up. We’re tired of the lies and propaganda. We just want our Laudium back.”
Duwiin Gindra, also of Bengal Street, told the Laudium Sun, “I recently moved to Laudium and it seems like a nice place. But I’ve been hearing a lot of negative comments regarding crime and the poor service delivery issues lately, so I’m a bit sceptical about how things will go for me here. I really hope that over time, the service delivery will improve and that I’ll be able to enjoy being part of the community. I have high hopes for Laudium and I truly hope I won’t be disappointed.”
